In some parts of the country, particularly in California, Texas and Louisiana, and in some parts of Wyoming and Pennsylvania, once productive gas wells and oil wells and entire oil and gas fields have been abandoned. In some instances, these oil and gas fields lie in highly developed areas and the land values are very high. Often, especially in Southern California, the land values are extremely high because these tracts of land, often quite large, are prime sources for commercial and residential development. Development of these valuable pieces of real estate has, however, been severally impeded, and in some cases there have been catastrophic results of developing these pieces of land. For example, in one particular striking incident, the lawn and garden areas around a shopping center complex simply burst into flames without advance warning. It was discovered that these structures had been developed over abandoned oil wells which had not been properly capped off, and over the years the ground had become saturated with methane and other natural gases, which constantly escape from these oil wells in a greater or lesser degree. The concentration of methane built up to the point where it became combustible and was ignited, apparently, by a spark in one of the electrical systems.
One of the currently used techniques for capping off oil wells is to dig down several feet, sometimes up to fifty (50) feet or more, surround the casing with concrete and fill the casing with concrete and then weld off the top of the casing with a steel plate. This method is of limited effectiveness and is extremely expensive. The present invention may be used as an increased safety factor in connection with the previously used methods of venting off oil wells.